Week of November 12-16

Hello, parents!  Sorry I didn't update last week.  Please read below for lots of information.  I've also added some photos of the plant and animal cells the kids made out of Play-Doh during our units on cells.

Plant Cell #1

 Animal Cell #1

 Animal Cell #2

 Plant Cell #2

Boys’ Night Out

This Friday is Boys’ Night Out from 2:30-4:00pm.  Thank you to those who signed up as proceeds go directly to our classroom budget!   If you have not signed up and would like to please send in your $25 no later than Wednesday.  I need to be sure I have enough pizza, drinks, and candy for all.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Please remember that I am holding parent-teacher conferences again this Tuesday from 2:40-6:00pm.  If you have scheduled to come in, but find you can’t make it, please call the office to cancel.  If you were unable to attend conferences, but would like to schedule a phone conference, please send me an e-mail.

Early Release

This Wednesday is another Early Release Day.  Please make arrangements for a 12:25pm dismissal.  If your child’s transportation will be different than usual, please send in a note.

Food Drive

Harmony has once again begun our annual food drive.  Please send in canned foods and non-perishable items to help donate food to families in need this holiday season.

Viewing of “Squanto”

Next Tuesday, November 20^th, we will be hosting a viewing of the movie “Squanto” in the afternoon.  This film goes along perfectly with our curriculum and the Thanksgiving holiday.  Students are invited to bring water, a snack, and a pillow for the show which we will watch in the library. 

BOB

The Battle of the Books competition (BOB) has officially begun!  There are 10 books which we are encouraging the children to read between now and February to compete in a school-wide reading comprehension competition.  Students who read 7 or more books will also have the opportunity to take the district test and possibly compete at the district level this spring!  Please encourage your child to take an active role in the BOB competition.  It’s a fantastic way to get kids excited about reading!

Upcoming Tests

Division Test on Tuesday

Read below to see what we’re learning this week.

Social Studies:  We will be learning about the first colonies in the New World, why some were successful, while others weren’t, and how the colonists adapted to and governed themselves in the new environment.

Math:  We will shift our focus from division to measurement and conversions.  You can support your child at home by helping him/her learn basic conversions in both the customary and metric systems.  Example, 1 foot = 12 inches, 1 meter = 100 cm

Word Study:  Correlating to our reading lessons, this week, we will be working on learning roots for measurement words such as centi, milli, etc. to better aquaint kids with the measurement system.

Reading:  This week’s focus will be Greek and Latin roots.  It is our intention to teach the kids how many new words can be decoded using Greek and Latin roots.

Writing:  We have been working hard to learn how to craft opinion pieces and express opinions through writing.  This week the kids will be learning how to complete an opinion piece “on demand.”  This means I will teach them how to take a prompt, analyze it, and write either a letter, article, or essay that clearly expresses their opinion within a 30 minute time frame.